


Safe but not so sound

by Rabentochter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Enemies With Benefits, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hugs, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, M/M, Manipulation, Matchmaker Natasha Romanov, Mind Games, Mutual Pining, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, POV Natasha Romanov, Protective Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 22:20:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20033260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/pseuds/Rabentochter
Summary: When Tony landed in hospital again because of his self-sacrificing tendencies, Natasha decided that enough was enough. Something, orsomeone, must happen to make Tony feel more needed.





	Safe but not so sound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OneEyedFurball (Moscovm)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moscovm/gifts).

> **OneEyedFurball** mentioned on the discord today that they 'd like to read some Tony and Natasha friendship with frostiron 👀 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this one 😋

Tony had fallen one time too many. There was a limit to seeing her friend plummeting from the sky and having him on the hospital station of the Avengers Compound, Natasha decided. Even when that hadn't been the cause for his injury today, who knew when this would happen the next time? And nobody would be prepared for the fallout - again. Tony had been given some medication to make him fall asleep after he had vehemently insisted that he was _fine_. Even though there were bruises on his face and his arm had been put in a cast. So much for ‘m f’ne’. Funny guy. He couldn’t even speak comprehensibly but he could flash them all a charming smile.  
  
She had thought more often in the last time about Tony and his inability to keep himself _safe_. It seemed as if there was always a matter of safety when she was out and about or headlines about bodyguards who had ensured the safety of their protégé.  
  
Which led her to the thought that maybe Tony needed a bodyguard as well.  
  
Tony Stark was an idiot of the greatest kind, always risking his own skin for others without sparing a thought for the people who’d have to see him being hurt. He was an idiot and Natasha would hear no arguments against that.  
  
Tony also snored, she learnt when she was sitting next to his bed.  
  
“What am I going to do with you, hm?” she asked out loud, knowing that only JARVIS could hear her.  
  
She sunk back into silence, her eyes resting on her sleeping (and snoring) friend. For some it might be weird to look at someone sleeping but Natasha had to do that, for her it was like keeping vigil. Only keeping vigil to make sure he would not die. But Tony made that so difficult when he didn’t have to. He was just –  
  
Well, a hedonistic man but with a large self-sacrificing streak to be honest. Tony sometimes didn’t make sense in her books – like with his palladium poisoning. _Now_ it was obvious to her where she’d been wrong but back then, Tony had fooled her so convincingly – it still made her smile thinking of that. It wasn’t a nice smile. He could’ve died.  
  
But she would have to make sure that Tony would take better care of himself in the future or find something that would make him pause and eventually stop his ridiculous attitude that he had to sacrifice himself. She could’ve taken that hit in the fight. Perhaps it would have hurt, her arm would probably be broken but it was still better than having Tony to watch take that hit and _then_ be beaten nearly unconscious by Skurge.  
  
Her life had been easier when the Asgardians had stayed on their realm and didn’t come to Earth regularly to cause chaos here. There used to be no Amora who batted pretty eyelashes at everyone and turned men into even dumber beings than they usually were. No Skurge who beat up the Avengers with sheer delight and especially, no Loki who fought them at least two times per week. Loki had escaped Asgard’s prison somehow, nobody knew how. Not even Thor who had been with them around the time Loki had escaped. Natasha suspected that Loki had simply taken his time to recover there and then broke out when he was at full strength again.  
  
She leant back in her chair. Tony was still snoring and looked quite content in his sleep.  
  
She would have to do something or else she ran the risk to lose her friend. And that just wouldn’t do, Natasha decided.  
  
There weren’t many things Natasha could do to. Most options had to be eliminated because Tony _was Tony_. He didn’t react to most plans SHIELD had ready for such a case because either, he already owned things that would make others ‘happy’ or didn’t need it or was too good at it already and he’d most likely see right through her attempts.  
  
Briefly, and only for a second she had thought about becoming something more for Tony but that would have been a lie and while it wouldn’t have bothered her, it wouldn’t be a good thing for Tony in the long run.  
  
No, Tony would have to work at himself while not realising he was doing it. Tony was a peacock, he wanted attention, sought praise like a starving man in a desert and he needed someone he could make proud of him even when he didn’t know he needed this. A platonic praise kink, basically. Or not platonic but that was then out of her hands and hopefully in someone else would take care of that.  
  
That was if she tried out the lover/romantic aspect at Tony.  
  
There had been Pepper and while Pepper was a strong woman, they had not worked out because a hero was sometimes _just too much_ for others to live with and of course, Tony’s self-sacrificing streak wasn’t the most inviting characteristic either. The problem was that Pepper was so deliciously independent and Tony needed someone to depend on but who also depended on him. So it had to be someone with a desire to feel needed and be needed.  
  
Which was a ‘No’ to Cap already because of that but then, Cap was straight, too. He and Tony would argue and Tony would be even more self-sacrificing than usual.  
  
She should stop looking at Avengers fan art, perhaps. But some were really good and oh well, some of the things people came up with? Interesting, to say at least.  
  
With a sigh she mentally started to enumerate all the people she knew that would fit Tony. Who was open to having things be more permanent and not only … well, for one night as Tony’s romances tended to be. This lucky person also had to have an interest in Tony, not just in the image of Tony Stark. They had to keep Tony at all times on his toes, to be a challenge for every day anew, not just for a single night where the challenge was to learn what their weak spots were. A constant change, a genius but they should be able to keep up with Tony mentally and weren’t allowed to be afraid of his biting snark. And his tendency to shrug people off when they came too close and things became more personal.  
  
… That didn’t leave a lot of people. She still was on the list but no, she wouldn’t do that. There was Rhodey but then, _no_ again because Rhodey was too often absent because of his job and that was not really what she was looking for. And she wasn’t all too sure about whether she wanted Tony to sacrifice his friendship with Rhodey. Friends turning lovers could turn out _ugly_, she knew that and Rhodey and Tony worked better as friends anyway. Pepper was also out of the picture.  
  
Thor could be interesting and definitely an option if he weren’t so happy with Jane and most likely, also only straight with an only occasional curious dip into forbidden waters.  
  
Why were all the good people _not single_? It was frustrating.  
  
Who was a challenge for Tony?  
  
An ugly suspicion rose in her and Natasha wasn’t quite sure if she liked it or not. But then … it was for Tony. And when it was about Tony, it was for (her own) Greater Good and therefore, it was justified.  
  
But really, _Loki_ could prove himself to be a good option.  
  
She needed vodka if she continued to think about this.  
  
The sun was already rising so Tony should be awake in one hour. Surely Rhodey was free and could take over? She sent him a quick message but Rhodey was to her surprise, already on his way up here. That was good.  
  
She left the room not even three minutes later after giving Rhodey a well-deserved hug and then wandered off to her room.  
  
Some vodka in the morning was all too tempting because it made her want to drink more but it was too early and she really wasn’t in the mood to go and fight tipsy despite having done that in the past already.

  
Loki would be a challenge for Tony, that was a certainty. There could easily be sparked a sexual interest between them and the thrill of fucking the enemy? Oh, Tony would love it. Until he got a bad conscience and fuck it up - again. Maybe Loki could just fuck it out of him. Was Loki even into men? She needed to know that.  
  
Assuming that Loki and Tony got together somehow, how else could she keep Tony from having a bad conscience? Would it help when, well when one from the team would know and didn’t mind, perhaps even encouraged their relationship? She frowned. Tony considered them as his family, same as Natasha. Would it help _her_ were she the one who fraternised with the enemy?

  
No, because she wouldn’t have a bad conscience to begin with. She’d straight up tell them and then add they should keep their mouths shut if there was anything bad they had to tell her about that.

  
Tony though? Yes. Yes, it would make it better for him. She could help him later on to break it gently to the other Avengers.  
  
Cap wouldn’t dare to be outright hostile when he knew Tony already had her approval. After all, Cap trusted her in this. At times he was very naïve in his faith in her. She was a _spy_, she had no morals. She only worked on desires and one of them was to protect her family. That Cap still hadn’t realised that? It was adorable. He was just too good for the world.  
  
She took another sip from her bottle. If everything worked out correctly, Tony would learn to come to see Loki as _his_, would find an anchor in him and the other way around, of course. Was it a good idea to have an anchor in someone who was not of sound mind? Probably not. But Tony wasn’t the sanest person either, maybe it would even the crazy out. _That_ was possible.  
  
Now the question stood _how_ to get Tony and Loki together.  
  
It was a bit telling that ‘a challenge’ immediately popped up in her mind. A subtle challenge so the others wouldn’t notice but Tony would. Mind games. How she loved those, working with subtlety and underhanded tactics, some well-placed words here, a few suggestive remarks there and the path would be free for Tony to walk on.  
  
What about Loki, though?  
  
Oh well, if Loki didn’t want to have an Avenger in his bed and cause chaos and mischief, then she didn’t know how to help him.  
  
But these were smaller details.  
  
But overall?  
  
Tony would have someone who would keep him on his toes. Loki was able to keep up with him mentally and even challenged him. Made him feel needed and Tony could also depend on him, he already had respect for Loki and perhaps would even fear consequences should he go too far.  
  
The downsides? This could be a landmine, it could tear Tony apart. Yet this was something that could also Amora could do at their next fight. Tony could become corrupt. She raised the bottle to her lips and tried to think about it. Tony being corrupted by Loki would mean Iron Man would no longer be their ally, would mean they’d have to find a counterpart for a rogue Iron Man. Rhodey would good for that. And if they managed to destroy the basic functions of Iron Man’s suit, a fight would most likely turn out in their favour anyway.  
  
What would it mean for Tony to be _Loki’s_? More secrecy. Possibly a change in his nature to adapt more to Loki, to be more appealing. But it would also mean he gained a protector since Loki wouldn’t wish to see his boytoy being hurt. The word ‘toy’ sat wrong with her. But that was what Tony would be unless there were feelings evoked.  
  
How to evoke feelings in a villain who had no qualms about conquering Earth or destroy another planet?  
  
It was laughably simple as well.  
  
It was just a matter of having Tony be the person Loki needed. No wishy-washy ‘that’s not you, come home, you’re better than this’ talk, more of a ‘things can be good, I am yours, you asshole, I _like you_ even though you are full of shit at occasion’ talk. Then they’d stare at another in an assessing way, gauge their reactions then snog the hell out of another because neither of them talked about feelings.  
  
Oh god, she was already imagining Tony and Loki interacting and was _analysing_ them.  
  
Would her goal be achieved by this? Yes, because Tony would be in unstable, yet safe hands.  
  
Would she regret it? Probably but she was living with bigger mistakes.  
  
Would it be worth if it meant she’d see Tony restraining himself and with fewer attempts at self-sacrifices and more exert more of this infamous _thinking_ during a battle?  
  
She felt a smile on her face. Her decision had been made.  
  
And if all went wrong she could still bury some knives in Loki’s back and unleash the Widow’s Bite on him.  
  
What would Clint say?  
  
She closed her eyes. Breathed in. Out. Clint would be furious, at first. She would need to distract Clint’s anger from Tony towards her so Tony’s luck and safety wouldn’t be endangered anymore. Could she live with Clint’s disappointment when she told him it all had been instigated by her? That she had taken no consideration of him?  
  
Thankfully, Clint didn’t have this streak of martyrdom. Clint had his family and that was Laura, their kids and she. The Avengers were in second place. Should Clint really decide that this was it with their friendship, well, she’d only have to wait for Nathan to ask for his auntie and slowly Clint would soften and open up to her again. And they _were friends_, they didn’t give each other up just like that. The things Clint had already done to her because he had to because of something, well, they had nearly broken them too. They’d manage and survive this as well.  
  
After all, they were spies.  
  
Sometimes they had to put feelings aside and think of the greater picture first, as dramatic as that sounded.  
  
For now she only had to wait for Tony to get better, then she’d start to drop remarks about Loki’s physical appearance. Get drunk with Tony and admit she already slept once with an enemy just because she could and nobody had hindered her.  
  
The thrill of doing forbidden things. Loki’s cheekbones that begged to be kissed; the pale skin that wanted to be adored with bites. She grinned. Tony would bite and then start to think about Loki in a completely new light. Then, their banter on the battlefield would quickly turn towards a more flirtatious area, from there on it was only a matter of at most three weeks until Tony would fuck Loki. Or, the other way around, not that it mattered in any way.  


-☼-

  
It was interesting how _right_ she’d been about Tony and Loki. She only needed to mention Loki in a lewd joke and Tony’s mind seemed to have gone off in another direction. Then, she’d _accidentally_ slapped Tony’s well-formed metallic ass a few times on the battlefield in the vicinity of Loki and they were both_ sold_ as the bantering turning into a more flirtatious area.  
  
The unresolved sexual tension became unbearable for the next two weeks.  
  
Then she _did_ let drop that Tony could trust her as the bags were getting heavier under his eyes. Well, from there on it was easy to tell him, he could do what or _who_ he wanted, he’d have her back. He had looked at her strangely which made her curse inwardly. She couldn’t be too obvious about her game.  
  
Five days later and she was pretty sure that Tony didn’t sit comfortably in his chair. She only winked at him. He froze but when nothing else came from her, he relaxed in his chair with a soft smile despite the pain he probably experienced.  
  
She wondered where and how he’d seduced Loki. Maybe one day she’d learn. Tony was a part of her family. She covered his hand with hers and told him he could always come to her should need be; she wasn’t afraid of attacking a _goat_ should things go southwards.  
  
Tony nearly spit out his cereal.  
  
Cap asked whether Tony wanted to go to a zoo eventually today.  
  
Adorable, oblivious idiot.  
  
“You know about Loki and me,” Tony stated when they walked up to his room.  
  
“Of course I do.” She grinned at him.  
  
“How? He said we’re subtle.”  
  
“Oh, you are, don’t worry your pretty face about that.” She patted his shoulder. “Keep it up like that until you both have gotten more comfortable with each other, then you _could_ break it to the others. I’ll help you with that if you want me to.”  
  
He shook his head at her. “I don’t _understand_ you.”  
  
“I don’t understand you either. That makes us even, doesn’t it?”  
  
Tony chuckled and opened the door letting her enter his floor first.  
  
Well, she had _not_ expected to see Loki sitting on the bar only clad in Iron Man boxers and with a drink in his hand.  
  
“Has the Matchmaker finally made her way up?” Loki asked amusedly.  
  
“The Matchmaker?” Tony repeated with a grin and looked at her from the side.  
  
Was he worried she’d tick off or point with her gun at Loki?  
  
“The Matchmaker,” Loki confirmed and took a sip from his drink, his eyes never leaving Natasha’s.  
  
“She has arrived, yes,” Natasha eventually said. “What did you want to talk about, Loki?” Because why else would Loki want her upstairs if not for a talk?  
  
“An exchange of a few words full of gratitude and a warning, that’s all.” The smile Loki threw at her was sharp and full of teeth. “I won’t be manipulated like that again.” His smile turned softer. “I won’t enact revenge, this time.”  
  
His words of thanks were amazing, she thought dryly.  
  
“So you _did_ set us up?” Tony asked her while strolling over to the bar, putting two glasses on the bar, next to Loki. “Lokes, you’re taking up all the space. Would you mind-?”  
  
“Yes. After all, I was here first.” He grinned at Tony.  
  
“_Actu__ally_, the bar was here first.”  
  
“Then make me go away.”  
  
Tony licked his lips.  
  
Natasha sat down on the other side of the glasses. If they wanted to play right now, she could watch. Live porn was always better and well, one didn’t just forget her. She leant forward curiously.  
  
Loki snorted. “You really have no shame at all, do you?”  
  
Natasha arched a brow. “I’m Russian.”  
  
Tony giggled.  
  
“And I’m your enemy. Do you always encourage your friends to hook up with the villain, I wonder?”  
  
“Oh no.” She waved him off and took the drink Tony offered to her. “Only Tony.” She took the time to look at him closely. He looked good, she realised. Less like life was throwing him under the bus day for day again and again. His posture was more open and relaxed, shoulders slumped nicely, his face painted with happy wrinkles.  
  
“I wonder whether I should feel insulted that you just threw me at a wolf and hoped I’d survive the encounter,” Tony said and frowned. “Yeah, I don’t like that I have to look up at both of you. Slide over,” he directed at Loki and then sat down in front of him.  
  
Natasha watched amusedly as Loki’s arms looped around Tony almost instantly, pulling him closer in.  
  
“Don’t feel insulted,” she said with a grin, “feel honoured. You don’t want to know who else was on the list of the people I considered would match well with you.”  
  
“You made a _list_?”  
  
“Yes. I was so close,” she pinched her fingers together, “to set you up wi-“  
  
Loki put his hands on Tony’s ears and smirked at her, his eyes blinking coldly. “With _me_, I’m sure.”  
  
She moved her mouth around, taking care that the movements wouldn’t make any sense but had Tony think she said a name. Maybe that would finally teach him to learn lip-reading.  
  
Loki didn’t remove his hands though. He pressed a short kiss to Tony’s hair and looked at her, his green eyes dark and solemn. “It was a masterpiece of manipulation, I give you that, _Natasha._ I will repay you one day for your trick since it finally made him accept my invitation to dinner. I was beginning to lose my patience.” He grinned at her darkly.  
  
“So, you two were already-?”  
  
“Not really. We had a few _accidental_ meetings and flirted with another when the Avengers weren’t close by. Your push made him more brazen.” Loki sighed and Natasha … well, maybe it had been too easy. “And he was scared of disappointing this little team of yours.”  
  
“That’s what I thought.”  
  
“Yes.” Loki nodded. “Really, I have to thank you for fearing for his safety so much.”  
  
“The broken arm was no illusion.”  
  
“It wasn’t the arm.”  
  
“We never talked before.”  
  
“We didn’t?” His smile became unsettling.  
  
Natasha was intrigued and Tony rolled his eyes in Loki’s hold. “How did you corner me into thinking about Tony’s safety?”  
  
“Small things.” Loki shrugged. “You are a spy, it was a bit trickier than usual to get to you, I have to admit that. So I figured, small things but them accumulated in your everyday life? You were bound to start thinking of safety eventually.” He lifted his hands from Tony’s ears.  
  
“Are you done talking about me?” Tony complained and slipped off the bar. “That’s no fun when you exclude me. Were you talking about my ass?”  
  
“Nope.”  
  
“A shame,” Tony tutted.  
  
Natasha’s mind was still racing how Loki could have managed that. And-  
  
“The newspapers.”  
  
“The what?”  
  
“Very good, Natasha.” Loki said. He winked at her. “And then you somehow always saw Tony next or heard of him. Amazing how that affects one, hm?”  
  
“Did you go Freud on her?”  
  
“More Pavlovian.” Natasha shook her head. “How could you make sure that it would work out?”  
  
“Oh, that was just faith in chaos and mischief, nothing else.” Loki tilted his head. “And now that we’ve cleared up who is the Master of Manipulations, I think it’s time for you to go and pretend that I’m not here.”  
  
She stood up and patted Tony’s shoulder. “Have _fun_ with yourself and stay safe.”  
  
“Mind-fuckers, both of you. What have I done to deserve this?”  
  
“You hurt yourself too often. Tell your shadow that he’d better step up his game at protecting you, yes? Otherwise I _will_ find a way to hurt him.”  
  
An amused cackle was heard.  
  
Tony just shook his head. “Nope, no idea what you’re talking about.” He leant forwards to hug her.  
  
She let him and pulled him in tighter as well. Tony gave out good hugs.  
  
“I don’t want to know fully what you both talked about,” Tony whispered in her ear, “but thank you.”  
  
“Thank me by staying safe,” she whispered back, squeezed him one last time, then left.  
  
Tony was in safe hands, that was all she ever wanted.  
  



End file.
